Calendars, as a traditional method of identifying the arrangement of days and months of a year, are well known. Such calendars have heretofore been configured in various forms and constructions. In the most conventional presentation, a calendar includes a planar substrate having an indication thereon of the twelve months, which together constitute the traditional year. A grouping of the various days, which together constitute an individual month, may also be indicated. Oftentimes, calendars adopt a configuration whereby each day is associated with a respective day of the week, e.g., a Wednesday.
Calendars provide the user with a means of readily identifying a specific day as well as the day of the week, month and or year associated with that day. While the information previously provided by traditional calendars is very helpful to the user, it has been previously recognized that calendars may be utilized to provide a user with other utility beyond that historically associated with traditional calendars. Representative efforts in this regard are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 780,086 (Brewer et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 1,520,648 (Holt); U.S. Pat. No. 2,301,970 (Rau); U.S. Pat. No. 2,831,278 (Myers); U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,871 (Smith et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,290,812 (Hunkins).
An interesting development in the calendar art was the calendar construction disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,894 (Wightman). This particular calendar construction provided a traditional first substrate having the conventional calendar indicia disposed on an outer surface thereof. The outer substrate was associated with a secondary substrate having a plurality of elongate channels formed therein. The longitudinal axis of each of these channels was oriented perpendicular to the surface of the outer substrate. A third substrate, formed by a thin sheet of paper, was positioned adjacent to the second substrate whereby the elongate channel was sealed on each of its opposing ends, i.e., the first end of the channel being sealed by the outer substrate while the second opposing end was sealed by the third substrate. Positioned within each of these elongate channels is a respective paper roll having a message printed thereon such as a horoscope, quotation, riddle or other information. Each of the elongate channels was associated with a respective day of the calendar whereby the user could punch through the outer substrate and thereafter displace the paper roll through the third substrate and thereby cause the paper roll to be displaced outwardly from the third substrate. A channeling structure was positioned proximate the back surface of the third substrate for directing the dislodged paper roll to a collection tray positioned below the assembly of the three substrates.
While the '894 calendar structure provides a number of interesting benefits, it is also limited in its usefulness due to the nature of its construction. For example, the orientation of the elongate channels, perpendicular to the planar surface of the first substrate, requires the calendar to have a considerable thickness. This thickness requirement severely limits the environments wherein this particular type of calendar can be employed. For example, this thickness requirement may limit the manufacture of smaller versions of the calendar, e.g., a desk top version. Furthermore, the '894 calendar requires the user to utilize a tool in order to operate the calendar. This tool is easily misplaced thereby rendering the calendar inoperative.
There continues to exist a need for a calendar construction that at once provides the user with the information conveyed by a conventional calendar while also permitting the user to be supplied with a daily informational or entertainment article that may be used in environments that are spatially constrained.